Not Part of the Plan
by lovegleefans
Summary: Puck's behaviour has completely changed after his almost-fatal accident during the summer. Will Kurt find out why he's the only one, who's getting this honest-and-friendly-Puckerman treat? [The story is set in the beggining of S2.]
1. Thank God It's Friday

**Chapter 1 (T.G.I.F.)**

The sound of people talking, the smell of malodorous trash and the view of the blue sky. Since the junior year had started two weeks ago, every single morning, I had to put up with being tossed by some jocks into an old dumpster that stood in front of the most terrifying school in Ohio – William McKinley High School.

It's not like I'm complaining though. I could lay here all day, thinking about how my life is a mess, how miserable and tired of a life I am. From what I've learnt, everything's better than being pushed against the lockers and listening to others shouting at me words like _gay Hummel_, _fag_ or _kill yourself _while innocently walking down the school hall. What have I ever done to them, that they had to be so cruel to me?

"Kurt? Are you alright buddy?" I was suddenly interrupted from my morning philosophy, when I heard someone with a familiar voice saying my name.

When I tried to get out of the dumpster to look who is ruining my morning routine, this strange person strongly grabbed me by the arm and helped me. When I looked up, I could finally see him. And I couldn't believe my baby-blue eyes. It was none other than Noah Puckerman.

_That Noah_, who bullied me throughout the freshman and sophomore years. _That Noah_, who joined the glee club in sophomore year and all of the sudden stopped bullying me. _That Noah_, who had an accident this summer and nearly died.

"Yeah, I guess." I said incredulously.

I felt really weird, because yes, he stopped bullying me, but he never helped me. Why would he even bother to help the boy he bullied, right? That accident must have changed him.

"Okay then. Later." he said with a smile on his face and went towards the school building.

As I watched him go, I noticed he was limping a little on the right leg. He also had this little scar on the neck, from the accident obviously. And the most important thing – he didn't wear his McKinley Titans jacket. It's kind of weird seeing him in his casual clothes. Good kind of weird.

After that, I was standing in the middle of the yard for a while. Everything felt weird. I ignored all the people around. I just stopped perceive the surroundings. I was asking myself what had just happened. For once it was nice to have someone helping me. Others were just ignoring the fact that I was being bullied, that I was feeling like a total disaster. Even those like Mercedes or Tina seemed to not care at all. Perhaps they were just happy it's no more them who's getting slushied everyday.

The fact, that _someone_ helping me just a little influenced me and my morning in some way, was scary. And it was even scarier when that _someone_ was Puck.

* * *

><p>Later that day, glee club meeting was held in the choir room. Everything felt like a dream. Today was a first day after a long time I did not get slushied. I tried to ignore the event, that occurred this morning. But it was so damn hard.<p>

Puckerman obviously became center of attention. He was actually sitting in the center of the choir room, which was ironic. I laughed a little. I was laughing at my own jokes. I just realized I'm the lamest person alive.

Anyway, I was sitting on a not-so-comfy chair next to Mercedes, who was enthusiastically listening to his breathtaking summer story, which by the way was a little over-the-top for my taste. Or maybe I wasn't just listen-

"_AND_ then this woman showed up and she asked me something." He shouted passionately. And I was abruptly interrupted from my afternoon philosophy. Again. Damn you Puckerman.

"Okay guys. I think that's enough. Thank you Puck for this honest story of yours, I'm glad you are alive and well, but we have to move on." Mr. Shue said as he was walking through the doors to choir room and started to write something on the white board.

I couldn't help it, but I internally laughed. Whenever I saw Mr. Shue wearing vests, I giggled. Not in a bad way though. I liked him as a teacher and since I've been calling myself a fashion guru, I was allowed to laugh at things like this for example.

"Boy, are talking to yourself again?" Mercedes whispered. I felt a little tickle on my left ear from her breath. I guess the question was directed at me.

I looked at her and she was giving me this what-is-wrong-with-you face. "Nah, I'm just brainstorming some ideas for Sectionals." I whispered with no emotion in my voice and looked at the board, which thankfully, had written Sectionals on it. Thank you, you're my saviour Mr. Shue. I don't need anyone to think, that on the top of being gay, I'm some kind of a weirdo too.

"Hey, Kurt." Someone whispered and I felt a little tickle. For a change, on my right ear now. I turned my head to the right side to see who wanted to bother me now. It was Puck. I didn't even realize that he took a seat next to me after Mr. Shue came to this room full of kids with undying dreams.

I just stared at him. I didn't know what to say. He stared back at me with his big hazel eyes, looking like he wanted to say something. It took him maybe 10 seconds to finally spit it out.

"So, did you like my story?" He asked slowly.

"Oh my god, I loved it. You should totally tell us the ending of the story later." Mercedes said with excitement behind me, before I even fully realized what the question was about.

"I didn't ask you." Puck said with a serious tone in his voice. Wow. Rude. And here I thought he has changed.

He looked at her and then back at me. I didn't know what was going on and I honestly didn't know what the story was about. I glimpsed at Mercedes, whose face turned from excited to apathetic. She crossed her arms and turned back to listen Mr Shue's boring plea.

"Hmm. I'm still waiting." Puck said again. I've never seen him being so curious about something. What the heck was going on.

"Well. I mean-" I stopped.

After I said it I realized there's an awkward silence in the whole room. I looked around and everyone was staring at me. Mr. Shue wore a disappointed face. It was a sign that he's going to say something awful.

"Kurt, it's our chance to go to New York this year. Win Nationals. If you're not going to listen, we don't even have to make it to Regionals. Noah is here first day after his accident. Why are you disturbing him?" He snapped.

What. The. Hell. Why was I the one who's taking a blame for this. Just because the boy I was talking to nearly died, he's the innocent one now.

I felt this sudden anger inside of me. I didn't know what to do so I just ran out of the choir room and went somewhere. I didn't know where I had headed. I just wanted to be somewhere far away from that room. Somewhere far away from this school. I didn't know why I was easily irritated by something stupid like this. Maybe I've just had enough of the unfairness in my life.

As I ran out of the building, I felt the tears coming out of my eyes. They tasted salty. Luckily for me, I've promised myself that no matter what I will never cry in the school again. I was kind of still keeping the promise as I was technically outside, standing in front of the construction.

Unfortunately for me, as I stood in the middle of the yard, I've heard laughing and I knew how's this going to end.

So here I was. In the dumpster. Again. The sky was still blue. Instead of people talking, I listened to jocks laughing. And the trash was still smelly. On the top of that, I was feeling worse than in the morning.

As the laughing disappeared, I've decided to stand up and go home. On foot. It was 3.30pm and all I coud think about was the fact that tomorrow's finally Saturday. Thank God It's Friday.

Even though the day itself was horrible enough, I still had no idea that much worse things were about to happen.


	2. Playing Hard to Get

**Chapter 2 (Playing Hard to Get)**

It was friday night and I was finally home. In my room. Technically not mine, it's Finn's too. But he wasn't here now, so whatever. The room was in the basement and I loved every part of it, because not only I chose every single detail in it, it also was a place of my own privacy. It just _smelled _like home, because it _was_ my home. Yes, I _did_ share it with Finn, and it's kind of small, but lately he'd been busy dealing with his girlfriend Rachel a.k.a. my worst enemy. And she did not dare to enter my kingdom, so I had this room only for myself for most of the time.

As small and lovely as the place was, I'd never felt as alone in my life as I did now. I was laying in my own bed and thinking about today's events. This had been easily the worst day - dare I say - in my life. Whenever I felt crushed, worthless, as I did now, I just laid in my bed, listened to depressive songs, and looked at a framed picture that was lying on my shelf.

The picture showed my family from the times when I was four or five. Oh, how I missed mum. Don't get me wrong, I loved Carole – Finn's mother, she grew on me and I was totally happy she'd been there for my dad. I didn't even realize how much my dad needed her, until now. But she could never replace the person that brought me to life and took care of me since I was a little baby. Nobody could ever possibly replace that.

I also had a lot other thoughts playing through my mind, but before I started to think about them, I was disturbed by the sound of someone opening the door to basement.

"Hey, kiddo, okay to send Mercedes down?" I heard dad's voice calling from upstairs.

Was I thinking so loud that I did not hear the bell ringing? And Mercedes hadn't been here since the summer. I wondered what could possibly bring her here now.

"Yeah, I guess." I muttered.

As I heard approaching steps from the stairs, I quickly looked around to see if the room was tidy and clean. Mine part was, Finn's actually wasn't. Never mind!

Mercedes was carrying something in a plastic bag and she was wearing stroked purple shirt and blue jeans. _Oh how I hated purple_. I was suddenly feeling slightly embarrassed because I was wearing my pink pyjamas. Nobody was meant to see that.

"Hi!" she said with a big smile on her face like nothing bad ever happened today.

"Umm, hello there. " I responded with a clearly fake smile. And I regretted my decision right after.

She took a few steps so she could stand right in front of me. She sharply looked me in the eyes and her right hand grabbed my arm.

"Boy, don't be snappy at me. I think it's time for you to finally tell me what's going on." As she realized I wasn't responding, she continued with a slightly more serious tone in her voice. "You've been acting really awful lately. You've been ignoring me since the sophomore year has started. Everyone's been worrying about you after you left the choir room, you looked like you're going to hurt yourself. So just tell me – WHAT IS HAPPENING?"

_Where were you when I needed you the most. Where were you when I've been trying to call you during the whole summer. Where were you when my life was falling apart?!_ _That's what's happening._ These were the sentences I'd been wanting to ask her since I saw her the first day of sophomore year.

But instead of that, I shuddered her hand from my arm, took a deep breath and did not let her finish whatever she wanted to add in. "I'm not in a mood okay?! Just go, please. I don't need this right now." I whispered angrily.

I did not want to raise my voice. I didn't want my dad to be worried more than he already was.

Merecedes swallowed whatever I just said and opened her mouth and said, "Fine." She said it slowly, pronouncing all the consonants, which was kind of scary in that moment. I'd never seen her this angry. But she continued anyway, "When you will stop being a drama queen and want to talk to me, just remember one thing. It could be too late. I've had enough of this."

She threw the plastic bag on Finn's bed and left the basement. Maybe I was meant to start crying or regret everything I said. But I didn't. I felt this utter need to do something bold. I was angry. So I picked up the bag she brought and threw it in the trash can without seeing what was in it. On the top of that, I opened a drawer that was next to my bed and picked up a picture. A picture of me and Mercedes in Lima Bean from last year. Happy times. The picture ended up in the trash can too_. You've had enough of me? I've had enough of you too. Goodbye Mercedes._

And here I thought the day couldn't be worse than it already was.

I went to bed feeling kind of guilty and upset, but everything faded away as soon as I fell asleep.

* * *

><p>The next morning I woke up early. The clock hanging on the wall showed 5:57am when I opened my tired eyes. <em>Great<em>. I thought to myself. Not the ironical _great_, but the positive one. After feeling lonely and miserable I'd decided to spend every morning throughout the weekend hiking around the town while listening to different genres of music each day. When I woke up and went out this early, there weren't as many people out staring at me as normally, which was a pleasant fact to be honest.

Today was an _indie_ day by the way.

I brushed my teeth and quickly put some clothes on. The emotional exhaustion caused sudden negligence of hair and skin. What can I say, everybody's changing. I grabbed my mobile phone and white headphones. I secretly borrowed Finn's McKinley Titans jacket. He was already in bed when I woke up and by the time I would be back, he would still be asleep anyway. Everyone was still sleeping as I went out.

The wind was blowing through my brown hair. I was walking on a pavement that was next to road. It was September and the trees around were starting to rain down the red, yellow and orange leaves slowly. Some of them were already laying on the pavement since I'd heard them crunching under my feet. Because the weather was a little colder than during the summer, I was wearing a stroked jacket, which was protecting me from shaking. There were no cars and no people at this early hour. Just me, the rising sun and the music playing from my earplugs.

Well, at least I thought I was alone. Suddenly, I felt something on my arm. Something heavier than a leaf. I literally jumped and released this weird sound as always when I panic. I turned back to see what it was. Or better – _who_ it was.

"Woah, easy there." said Puck prudently while looking really scared and quickly moved the hand from my arm to his pocket.

"You. Again." I shouted and he blinked at me. I put the earphones out of my ears and continued as I saw he's still confused. "You scared the hell out of me, gosh. You think you can show up here like some kind of ghost?!"

He was wearing some ridiculously funny clothes. Also I still felt weird about his new hairstyle. It just didn't look like Puck without his mohawk.

"I didn't mean to, but you're the one who's scaring me now." Puck replied with exaggerated-frightening look on his face.

I sighed on purpose and looked at him blankly. I decided to ignore everything that had just happened. So I turned away from him and continued the walk like nothing had happened, hoping that I would not be followed or bothered.

I knew that there was something strange about him, about _the new_ him. If he saw me on the street last year, he would have tossed me to the nearest dumpster. But now, trying to strike up a conversation? That's not him at all.

"Wait! Come on, I'm trying." he shouted as he reached me and started to walk beside me.

"Trying what? And anyway, what are you even doing here at this time?" I was trying not to look at him, so I'd looked like I did not care. But the truth was, I was curious what he's doing here and why that sudden change of attitude. Mostly towards me as I noticed.

"I'm gonna be honest with you. I'm trying not to be a douchebag for once. I know, I did some terrible stuff to you during the last two years, which I'm sorry for. I just don't want to be that jerk anymore." He sounded really sincere it made me look at him. _Damn it! I looked at him_.

Then he continued. "And if it makes you feel better, you can totally toss me into a dumpster. You know, with this brand new - I guess Finn's - jacket you have on, it could be hilarious."

I was no longer looking at him and I put a little smile on my face. And it was an honest one, which frightened me. The vision of throwing Puck into a dumpster was unexpectedly funny. Even funnier when that idea was coming from him. I put on a stone face right after that, while praying he did not see me smiling.

"And why's that? Why that sudden change of heart? And you did not answer me that second question by the way." I said with no emotion in my voice, while sounding disinterested. I was still looking at the pavement and the colorful trees, trying not to establish the eye contact.

"I'm jogging, it's healthy. And actually it's kind of a funny and ridiculous story I've been wanting to tell you, it's about that car accident that happened this summer. And I think you should hear it first before–"

"Wait! Sorry to interrupt you, someone is calling me." I said very quickly and I picked my phone from my pocket and fake-pressed the display. I put the right headphone to my ear and faked a conversation. "Umm… Yeah, of course… I'm gonna be there in a minute." I pretended.

I looked at Noah, who seemed to be slightly confused. "I'm sorry but I have to go." I told him in a hurry.

I turned back and started bouncing my way towards my house that was like 5 minutes away from here. As I ran, I'd heard Noah saying "But–", which I replied with shouting "BYE!".

So here I was, running home. Running from Noah. And yes, I totally faked the phone call, which was really embarrassing. I hope he believed it because if not, I'm going to bury myself.

_And why am I even running?_ When I heard the word _summer_,… that was a signal boost. I wasn't going to listen to that stupid story. I was not going to take a pity on him just because of that. I just didn't want to hear anyone's problems. I'd had enough of mine already. Listening to his gloomy summer story is not how I wanted to spend my weekend. And even If someone like Puck wanted to truly apologize for his bad manners, I did not want to forgive him so easily. It's not worth two years of hell I'd been living in thanks to him.

* * *

><p>It was a Saturday night and I was alone in my room. Finn went on a date with my nemesis. I was listening to music. Not indie this time. That music was no longer among the livings for me.<p>

I was feeling the warning signs of panic passing through my whole body. And the more time went by, the more I was ashamed of my acts. _How could I_. I should have not panicked. And the more I was thinking about the faked phone call, the more I was embarrassed.

"Kurt?" My thoughts and concerns were interrupted by familiar voice. I looked up to see who it was.

It was Puck. _Oh my god_ it was him.

"So I think we should… talk?" He said uncertainly.

I stood up from bed straight away.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. I tried not to look upset. But it was so damn hard because I felt the embarrassment in my whole body. On the top of that I was wearing my pink pyjamas. _Oh my god_.

"Your dad let me–"

I did not let him continue and said in a hurry "I'm.. I'm going to the bathroom. Excuse me."

I did not even look at him. The bathroom was luckily near my bed so I did not have to bypass _him_. I just ran there.

When I closed the door I heard him laughing and saying, "Come on, are you seriously playing hard to get right now? What are you? Ten?!"

I looked in the mirror. I looked like a mess. I sighed in relief. Jokes. Okay. He didn't think I'm the lamest person alive. He would not be here if he did, right? There's still a way out of this chaos.

I waited around 5 minutes in the bathroom, calming myself. Then I finally dared to open the door. But Puck was nowhere near to be seen.

I was thinking about where he could go but I did not want to assume the worst – like he was scared of my room, or me. Maybe he just wanted to turn the tables and now _he_ was "playing hard to get".

I laughed a little on that statement. One little joke was enough to make me feel comfortable.

And one thing was actually very interesting. And quite strange…

It was thanks to _him_ that my mind was, after a long time, finally free from the never-ending thoughts about Mercedes.


	3. Under the Light of a Street Lamp

**Chapter 3 (Under the Light of a Street Lamp)**

"Have you decided yet?" My Monday dreaming was disrupted by a serious question that came from dad's mouth.

"W-what?" I said confused.

I was sitting in the front passenger seat of a car, Finn was behind me listening to music. Dad was slumped in the driver's seat with his characteristically poor posture. He was driving us to school with his silver Passat._ Great_. I thought to myself. Not the positive _great_, this time it was the ironical one.

"Chicago. Next week. Family trip?" He asked. But the way he said it, it reminded me the times when I was five.

Anyway. Me and Finn were offered a deal yesterday: _Chicago. One week. No school. Carole, dad, me and Finn_. Finn was on board. His excitement was ridiculously funny. But to be fair, who wouldn't be excited to spend a week without the one, whose name shall not be spoken.

Me, on the other hand, I wasn't quite sure If I wanted to go. I would've liked to spend more time with dad. Of course with Carole and maybe with Finn too. But I _did not like_ Chicago. I _hated_ Chicago to be exact. I tried to talk them out of it, but reasons such as _it's a waste of money _or_ it's a waste of time _weren't fully convincing. I also unobtrusively suggested them to choose New York or Los Angeles over Chicago instead, but I failed. They actually gave me two choices. I could go with them, which would mean _no school_ or I could stay at home, which would mean _school_.

I groaned and leaned my head against the window. I hated decisions. It'd always felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. I closed my eyes, hoping that every problem would've disappeared once and for all. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. Thereupon I lifted my head and looked over the window.

It felt like _it_ had happened just yesterday. Okay, _it_ _had_ happened the day before yesterday, but still. I was looking at a place, where my pride was buried. _For good_. It was kind of _that story_ I could tell my children in the future. _Faking a phone call. What am I? Ten_?! I couldn't stop myself from smiling.

Yeah, he made me feel like crap in the past but he'd changed. Everybody deserved a chance. Even if _that everybody_ was _Puck_. And maybe… maybe I was just too broken to realize he was actually helping me "pick up the right pieces". I was absolutely sure he didn't even know about it, but he'd helped me big time these last few days. I'd been thinking about this a lot. Actually I'd been thinking about it the whole weekend and I also came to a conclusion. _I should give Puck a chance to be my fri– … Okay, I can't say it. That sounds just plainly weird. And wrong. And ridiculous. _ I should probably try another time.

But before that, I would like to hear what excuse he's going to make up from that day he mystically disappeared from my room.

"Kiddo, are you with me? I asked you something." Dad sighed as the car stopped moving. I looked away from the window and turned my head to the left so I could face him. He was staring at me imploringly.

I was quiet so he continued, "Tomorrow, I want to hear your final decision. And for now, get out of my car. Both of you. School is waiting."

While we're getting out of the car he added, "Take care, lately I've been hearing about some kidnapping at school," then continued, "but I guess it's alright now, because I've heard he woke up."

Dad was laughing at his own joke on and we – me and Finn – showed some teeth too. _Oh, how I loved dad jokes. Even if they were this bad_. Finn had already put the earphones out of his ears so he'd definitely heard the joke. But from the baffled expression on his face, I did _not_ think he understood it at all.

I'd been avoiding dumpsters and slushies at school the whole day. And to my surprise – successfully. Spanish class was harder to stand than other lessons. Truth to be told, Mercedes had a big impact on it. She was actually the reason why I could barely stand that class today. I hated those moments when I was weak. I promised myself I'd never say a word to her after that outburst on Friday. As much as I wanted to talk to her, I couldn't do it. I did not want to. I guess my ego was bigger than I thought. I also noticed Noah ditched the Spanish class. He always joked around and there were no jokes today. That's how I knew he wasn't there.

In the middle of the day, I decided _not_ to attend the glee club meeting this afternoon. I was surprisingly in an awesome mood and I wanted to keep it that way.

* * *

><p>Later that day, just before midnight, I was still awake. I couldn't sleep. I was exhausted but I just couldn't. So I decided to watch a television in the living room. Everybody was already asleep. <em>What a surprise<em>.

I threw myself onto the couch that was situated in the middle of the blue-painted living room and turned on the widescreen TV. I didn't even care what programme was running in the moment. I just needed something to keep me company.

Then suddenly, I heard my phone beeping in my pocket_. Text message_.

_Who could possibly bother me at midnight _was the first thing which crossed my mind. I picked the phone up. My left hand was weak as I held the white-colored phone. I clicked the button that lit up the whole room. _Too much light_!

I had to cover my eyes with the other hand, and as soon as the light was bearable I read the message through the holes between my skinny fingers.

It was from an unknown number.

"_Come out. I'm standing in front of your house. Don't you dare pretend you're not awake, your pink pyjamas is practically shining from the front window. Puck." _

I rolled my eyes so hard I nearly saw my brain. _What does he want now? At midnight! In front of my house! This boy's never going to leave me alone, is he_.

As difficult as it was, I stood up on my feet and headed towards the main door. I pulled on first shoes I saw. I opened the door and saw Puck sitting with his back to me on the pavement by the road. He was sitting right under the street lamp so I could see him clearly. He was wearing a grey sweater. I put my arms around myself. I was shaking a little as I only had my pyjamas on. Nothing underneath, just my underwear. _It's pretty cold out there_.

It was an unpleasantly cold and unusually dark autumn's night. The moon was sheltered by the murky clouds. The wind was rapping against the windows. I could also feel the wind slapping my face and blowing through my messy hair but a little stronger than it did few days ago. I also noticed that although I heard cars, I did not see them. The pavements and roads I could see from here were abandoned. _Only several lamps, Puckerman and yeah… me too._

I finally shut the door and dared to take a few steps ahead. Puck turned his head to me on the sound of closing door and goofy-grinned at me.

"Ok, _firstly_, are you out of your freaking mind?! Tomorrow– well, today actually! – is school. _Secondly_, who am I going to kill for giving you my number and _thirdly_, where the hell did you disappeared _that day_?!" I funnily shouted with a visibly pretended anger.

By the time I said it I was standing next to him, looking at him from above. He'd been following my eyes the whole time I was stepping and now he's gazing at me from below with a little grin on his face.

He put his forefinger in front of his head and started moving his head from left to the right. And from the right to the left. Again and again while saying, "Firstly, nice to see you too. Secondly, sit down and last, but not least, that's actually why I'm here now."

As soon as I heard him sharply responding to my questions I knew what he was doing. He was purposely acting like a diva, probably imitating me from previous years. And I didn't know if it was because of the exhaustion, because of the night or because I was shaking from the unbearable cold weather… but he made me laugh. He made me laugh so loud and I didn't even care he was seeing me shrieking at his joke, which was practically an indirect confirmation of me thinking he's funny.

Between the giggling, I agreed to sit down without any further lamenting which, according to his puzzled expression on his face, surprised him. What can I say. I'd always loved surprising people.

I still had my arms crossed and I was a little shaky as the result of crispness in the atmosphere. I looked at him and gave him the _I'm-listening_ face.

Maybe he was waiting for me to contradict but, as I said before, I was too drained to do it. Or maybe I'd just decided to rather fulfill my curiosity, covering everything from the whole mystery of the honest-and-sweet-Puck to the day he disappeared from that room, than _played hard to get_. However strange it sounded.

"Okay, let's say I've been dealing with some kind of stuff lately, and that's also reason why I vanished that day. I've been feeling really frightened lately and…" he stopped.

He was looking at me, those piercing eyes were fixed upon mine. There was something new about them. Something I'd never seen before. Or maybe I'd never observed them like I did now. It was both whimsical and ironic that I noticed them now. In the nigh. Under the light of a street lamp.

Then his face turned away from me and he was looking down at his black sports shoes, which made me wonder what shoes I took in a hurry. I looked down to my feet and I saw Carole's – surprisingly comfortable - pink croxy. _Of course I'd take these_. _That wouldn't be me if I didn't_. I rolled my eyes.

He took a deep breath and it made me look at him. But he was still staring down at the road. He continued, "You know, sometimes I just want to sit outside with someone and talk all night. It's melancholic or nostalgic, or whatever it's called. And you're the first person I thought about. The person who wouldn't think it's weird and–"

That whole statement made me cough, which made him stop. So I lifted my left eyebrow to make it seem like it was on purpose.

He stared at me for a second and then gave me this _judgmental face_. "Oh-oh okay sir. Let me rephrase the sentence. Who wouldn't think it's TOO weird. Is that working for you?" He said with his roughest voice I'd ever heard him to say.

I chuckled. And then turned my face into a stone one and continued with the act. "Yeah, yeah. I think it's slightly better that way. Still think it's weird." I replied with the roughest tone in my voice. I also had this _no-bad_ shaped mouth on.

Despite all my efforts, he cackled, louder than I did before. I was a soprano, I didn't think it sounded as good as in my head.

"Oh, man, please never use that voice again." Noah said, still smiling like an idiot.

I'd never known I was so funny but whatever. _My ego's thanking you right now._

As I was looking at him with this faked poker face, he gasped, "Come on, don't be mad at me." And then he put his arm around my neck, holding me close to his body, and he started to rub his fist against my head until I felt more warmth than cold.

And I let him. I didn't honestly know why, but I did not defend myself. I did not make an unnecessary and embarrassing scene. Like that faked phone call. _Oh my god, like that faked phone call, every part of me is still hoping he __believed my acting skills. Screw that._

And again, I guess that's what bros were doing all the time, right? I never did something like this with any guy so how would I know. It was kind of fun and I also did not want to break this super cool bonding moment. Both of us laughed. It was a little awkward right after he let me out of his arms. His muscular arms_. Stop it. _I said to myself.

When I went to bed the time on the phone was showing me 1.10am. But I felt like it was 1.10pm. I was full of energy. Thanks to _one particular person_.

The last things I thought about before falling asleep were about how we talked for about maybe an hour after our little bro-to-bro moment. We talked about everything, _except the stuff he'd been dealing with_. And I didn't mind it. How for once I was glad I could talk to someone. I'd opened up to him and he'd opened up to me. Fair and square. And how then we went our separate ways, while he's promising me his attendance to school tomorrow. _Damn it. Today. _Before I started to think about other moments, the sleep got to me and I eventually fell asleep for real.

I didn't even realized that there was a big smile on my face.


End file.
